Business

U.S. Home Sales Plunge 4.9 Percent in January

Published

10 years ago

February 23, 2015

Oakland Post

This Jan. 8, 2015 photo shows a home for sale in Charlotte, N.C. The National Association of Realtors reports on sales of existing homes in January on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Josh Boak, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home sales struck a snow drift in January, plunging to the slowest pace in nine months.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of existing homes tumbled 4.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million. That brings sales down to their lowest level since April 2014.

Relatively low mortgage rates and steady job growth have yet to spur more activity from buyers and sellers, raising the possibility of either a spring sales rush or a second straight year of numbness in the real estate market. Few properties are being listed for sale, would-be buyers are holding off on purchases and snowstorms are cutting into traffic at open houses.

Weak sales in 2014 had set up expectations of a strong rebound in 2015, yet signs of that resurgence have yet to appear. The addition of roughly 1 million new jobs over the past three months has failed to make much of a dent in home-buying.

Homes did sell at a rate 3.2 percent faster than January 2014, but that increase largely reflects the brutal winter weather at the beginning of last year that depressed home-buying and caused the entire U.S. economy to briefly shrink. The noticeably more robust U.S. economy coming into 2015 was supposed to buoy sales, but the market has barely stirred so far.

“The weather hit is nothing like the scale of the damage seen last winter, but we would not now be surprised to see a further decline in activity in February,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “The underlying trend in sales is more or less flat.”

Few properties are coming onto the market. Just 4.7 months of supply were listed for sale at the end of December, compared with an average of 5.2 months during 2014, according to the Realtors.

Nor have builders ramped up construction. Housing starts slid 2 percent in January, according to a report from the Commerce Department last week.

The limited supply of homes can lift prices to higher levels, which may then lead would-be buyers to wait until they have more choices. Weekly mortgage applications fell 13.2 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last Wednesday.

Affordability has become a problem as prices have climbed at a faster clip than incomes. The national median home price rose 6.2 percent over the past 12 months to $199,600. That has priced out many first-time buyers, who represented just 28 percent of sales compared to their historic share of 40 percent.

Mother Nature is also beginning to take its toll. Nasty snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast likely kept would-be buyers away, further crimping sales heading into March and beginning of the spring buying season.

Buyer traffic for newly built homes slowed in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index.

The Realtors said previously in a separate report that the number of signed contracts in December fell 3.7 percent, suggesting that sales will remain under pressure in the coming months.

Sales slid in all four major geographical regions last month: dropping 6 percent in the Northeast, 2.7 percent in the Midwest, 4.6 percent in the South and 7.1 percent in the West.

Possibly hurting sales further, mortgage rates have crept upward for the past two weeks, ending what has previously been a yearlong slide.

Average 30-year fixed rates were 3.76 percent last week, according to the mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The average has risen from 3.59 percent at the start of February.

The current levels remain below the 4.33 percent average from a year ago, but the previous lows might keep current homeowners from upgrading since it would mean abandoning their current mortgage for a loan with possibly a higher rate and larger monthly payments.

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Related Topics:economy home sales homeownership housing markets

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Oakland Post: Week of November 27 – December 3, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 27 – December 3, 2024, 2024

Published

4 days ago

November 30, 2024

Oakland Post

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Black History

Emeline King: A Trailblazer in the Automotive Industry

Emeline King is recognized as the first African American female transportation designer at the Ford Motor Company. Let’s take a look at her life and career at the Ford Motor Company.

Published

1 week ago

November 26, 2024

Oakland Post

Transportation designer Emeline King. Photo courtesy of Emeline King.

By Tamara Shiloh

Emeline King is recognized as the first African American female transportation designer at the Ford Motor Company.

Let’s take a look at her life and career at the Ford Motor Company.

King’s fascination with cars began during her childhood. Growing up, she was captivated by the sleek designs and mechanical complexities of automobiles. She loved playing with toy cars and considered it an insult if anyone gave her a doll.

King pursued her interest in cars by studying at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. There, she improved her skills in transportation design, gaining the technical expertise and artistic vision she needed to break into the male-dominated industry.

However, her true inspiration came from her father, Earnest O. King, Sr., who worked for Ford as a Fabrication Specialist. She remembered the father-daughter trips to the auto shows, and the Saturday mornings with the famous Black sculptor, Oscar Graves, who her father assisted in some of his commissioned art works.

She said Graves would mentor her in clay relief sculptures. She was always fascinated by the smell of clay that was a constant in his studio.

However, it was her ﬁrst visit to her father’s job that became the catalyst for King to want a career in transportation design. At the company’s annual employee Christmas parties, she got the chance to meet his co-workers and learned about the roles they played in the auto industry. It was a chance to see some great cars, too.

Her career at Ford began in the 1980s, when women — particularly women of color –were scarcely represented in the automotive industry. King’s role at Ford was groundbreaking, as she became the first African American woman to work as a transportation designer at the company.

At Ford Design, she worked on the Ford Mustang SN-95’s interior. She also made several design contributions on other vehicles, too, including the interior components of the 1989 Thunderbird, the 1989 Corporate Steering Wheel, the 1989 Thunderbird Wheel/Wheel cover design program, the 1990 Thunderbird Super Coupe, the 1993 Mach III, the 1994 Mustang, to name a few.

King also served three foreign assignments: Turin Italy; Koln, Germany; and Brentwood, Essex, England — designing Ford cars for Europe.

Leaving Ford after about 25 years of service and along with her many speaking engagements, she wrote an autobiography about being Ford’s first female African American transportation designer titled, “What Do You Mean A Black Girl Can’t Design Cars? She Did It!”

She’s quoted as saying, “I’m now so proud to have written a book that I hope will inspire young girls and boys to never give up. To influence them so that they can stay focused and alert, and so they never look back. There are mentors who are placed in our lives to serve as our ‘Bridges to Destinations’ and allow us to cross over them to reach our dreams. Hoping they gain inspiration from my book, my motto for them is simple: ‘OPPORTUNITY IS NOW, SO GRAB IT! IF I DID IT, SO CAN YOU!”

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Activism

OCCUR Hosts “Faith Forward” Conference in Oakland

The conference featured Congresswoman-elect Lateefah Simon, who will begin her term representing California’s 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in January.
Simon was honored with a special recognition from OCCUR for her civic and nonprofit leadership.

Published

1 week ago

November 24, 2024

Oakland Post

President and CEO of OCCUR addresses the audience at OCCUR Faith Forward 2024 Conference at Resurrection Church. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR) hosted its Faith Forward 2024 Conference on Nov. 8 at Resurrection Church in Oakland.

The conference featured Congresswoman-elect Lateefah Simon, who will begin her term representing California’s 12^th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in January.

Simon was honored with a special recognition from OCCUR for her civic and nonprofit leadership. During her remarks, She commended nonprofits making a difference, and shared how she looked forward to representing Oakland and surrounding areas.

Simon also encouraged attendees to continue fighting despite their concerns about the presidential election results. She also cautioned that there may be resources that are discontinued as a result.

“We know the assignment. We have many of the resources right within our own community, and we will be ok,” Simon assured the audience.

The conference led by OCCUR president, Dr. David B. Franklin, also featured panels on funding opportunities, case studies, economic development, sustainable housing solutions, and organizing for action.

“In order for organizations serving the community to thrive, everyone must collaborate, share resources, and not operate in silos,” said Franklin.

Speakers included San Francisco Foundation CEO, Fred Blackwell, San Francisco Foundation FAITHS Program Director Dr. Michelle Chambers, and Kingmakers of Oakland Founder, Chris Chatmon. Guests were briefed on how Kingmakers of Oakland has gone from a budget of zero to several million and is set to acquire 200 acres of property to expand their programs serving young boys. The leadership at the San Francisco Foundation encouraged nonprofits, churches, and community leaders to work together, especially when donations and funding numbers are lower.

Ben Bartlett of Berkeley City Council; Trevor Parham, CEO of Oakstop; and CEO of the Lao Family Community Development, Inc., Kathy Chao Rothberg, inspired attendees with stories about their journeys in the nonprofit sector.

Additional speakers included Deka Dike, CEO of Omatachi; Landis Green, CEO of DGS Strategies; Sasha Werblin, Director of Economic Development, LISC Bay Area; Oakland City Councilmember Treva Reid; Faith and Justice Organizer of East Bay Housing Organizations, Ronnie Boyd; and Todd Bendon, Executive Director of Faith in Action East Bay; among others.

The event allowed community leaders, faith-based leaders, and nonprofits to gain Insight on how to strengthen their profits financially, and communally.

OCCUR has served the community for over 70 years supporting the wellbeing of historically marginalized communities with collaborative strategies. For more information visit occurnow.org